Archive for March 2015

We always tell people that it takes 5 days in the lab for every 1 day archaeologists spend in the field. But what does all that lab time look like? Let's take a look!

I've been working on a small project with the University of North Florida Archaeology Lab. Dr. Keith Ashley has been directing a project out at the Mill Cove Complex along the St. Johns River in Jacksonville. Lots of materials have been recovered: shells, faunal remains, lithics, pottery and even exotics like copper and ochre. I've been looking over the ceramics found in one component of the site, in hopes to compare them to other components.

Some tempering agents, like sponge spicules, can only be seen under a microscope.

Thickness can help us determine what part of the vessel we have: rim, body or base.

When we're done looking at the individual pieces, we can also look at the pieces to try to determine what the pots would have looked like before they broke. We can determine the orifice diameter based on the arc of the sherds. We can also look at the shape and size of the pot based on the profile of the pot sherd. Sometimes we're even lucky enough to find some that fit back together!

Charts like this one help us easily identify the diameter of the pot as well as the percentage of the vessel.

We create a database with all of the pottery information that can be manipulated to look at type, size, design and more. Next step: writing all of that information up in a report!!

Stay tuned for an update on the findings! For further information, check out some of Keith Ashely's article about the Mill Cove Complex.

Two weeks ago I had the opportunity to participate in an
uncommon archaeological survey, and wanted to share it with our FPAN Northeast
blog followers.

Over the past several years, landowner Rodney Thomas located
thousands of miscellaneous aircraft parts on his property near the town of
Osteen (pronounced OH-steen) in Volusia County. At first, he admitted that he
thought the pieces belonged to some antique farm equipment, but held the
suspicion that perhaps they were something more.

All of the wreckage Rodney recovered thus far

Tag inside the artifact case at the museum

After submitting some sample pieces to the nearby Deland
Naval Air Station Museum, he learned that the artifacts actually belonged to a WWII-era
SBD-5 Dauntless aircraft! After a little more research, they found that the
plane crashed in 1944, but also discovered that the wreckage could belong to one
of six crashes that occurred during that year.

Photograph of the SBD-5

Fast forward…..

George Schwarz, an underwater archaeologist with the Naval
History and Heritage Command for the Navy found out about the wreck, and
immediately took interest in investigating the site. According to George, roughly
95% of plane crashes are in the ocean, so it was an extremely unique and rare
opportunity to investigate a wreck site of this era on solid ground.

George contacted local military personnel, veterans,
archaeologists, a local metal detecting club, and others to put together a
3-day survey of the crash site. There
was even aid from a local forensic team and cadaver dogs, in case of buried
human remains. The volunteer archaeologists included two people from the Lighthouse
Archaeological Maritime Project—LAMP, right here in St. Augustine, two University
of West Florida (UWF) graduate students, and myself (Ryan).

Day 1 took the form of a media day—it began with a briefing
on the plane, the crash site, and essentially all the knowledge that had been
obtained up to that point. Local news crews, some 50 veterans, and others were
in attendance. The audience also
included local historians, archaeologists, and general enthusiasts of historic
preservation.

Dr. George Schwarz, Navy Archaeologist, addresses locals and the media

After lunch on Day 1, we headed out to the site. There were
more interviews with the media, and the cadaver dogs completed their initial
survey of the property. One area sparked their interest (or should I say
noses), but more on that later. Once the dogs were finished, the archaeologists
began their work.

Addressing the media once more out at the site

The goal for the latter part of the day was simple—walk the
transects that George had previously established on his GPS, and create
waypoints along the way to “draw” the layout of the site, and to test whether
the transects were easily traversable (we were in the woods after all!). Transects
were placed 10 meters apart with the goal of uniform coverage of the site. Because
the survey itself was being done by metal detectorists, any closer may have
caused the machines to interfere with one other.

Walking transects, this one was easy!

Day 2 and Day 3 protocol were followed the same format. The
metal detectorists would follow the transects (marked by orange flagging tape),
locate and unearth metal objects, and then call upon the archaeologists to
examine, photograph, and record each object individually.

In the evenings, the
archaeologists processed the artifacts in the lab. When all was said and done
on Day 3, several hundred additional metal objects had been documented and
processed. Because there is additional analysis to be performed, however, it
remains to be seen how many actually belonged to the aircraft.

Archaeologists documenting metal artifacts

As for the site that piqued the dogs’ interest, nothing ever came of it. The forensic team took numerous core samples and did not come up with any evidence for human remains, and adjacent test units did not yield any either.

Overall, the survey was a wonderful opportunity and
experience. I got better with my GPS skills, and was able to partake in the
search for a rare, land-based aircraft wreck site. Hopefully more details
emerge soon, and all those involved will discover which plane went down, and
who the pilots were.